


Thinking of doing a 30 Day Challenge? Here are some Thoughts

by SherlocksSister



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 30 Days of Sherlock Challenge, 30 Days of Writing, Gen, Meta, Non-fic, Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 04:30:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8357287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlocksSister/pseuds/SherlocksSister





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [30 days of Sherlock](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945585) by [SherlocksSister](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlocksSister/pseuds/SherlocksSister). 



****

A few days ago I completed my first 30 day challenge. I learnt a huge amount from my participation and thought I might share some of my thoughts here. I would also be very interested hear about your own experiences.

**Why take part?**

I had been following the work of another writer, TheWhiteLily as they worked through the Watson’s Woes 30 Day challenge and had loved the work they produced. It looked like fun. They say that the best way to improve as a writer is to write and a 30 Day Challenge is a great way to motivate yourself to do exactly that. I saw AtlinMerrick’s post on the Challenge over on Tumblr and here on AO3 and decided to go for it, the timing was right for me.

I wanted to experiment with my writing and saw this challenge as a great opportunity. The prompts are a starting point and you can take it from there.

**Time Commitment and Self-motivation**

From the beginning I knew I would not meet the 30 day deadline. Real life meant I had days I simply did not have time to write but as I was not taking part in a more formal deadline driven Challenge it didn’t matter. I wrote for all 30 prompts and that was my goal and it took me 45 days in the end, of which I did not write at all for 5 continuous days.

I met my own goal but would not have been able to keep up with a stricter Challenge, so consider what you want to achieve and be realistic. There is nothing more demotivating than feeling you have failed, so set achievable goals for yourself.

By the last four or five prompts, I wanted to get it finished. I had other works I wanted to get started on.

**Setting Boundaries and Rules**

Some participants chose to use the prompts to write one continuous story. Others chose a particular pairing and stuck with that. I began by wanting to write exclusively from Sherlock’s POV as that is a voice I enjoy writing and wanted to develop my skills in. I changed my mind. Approximately one third of my Chapters are now from a different POV because I have got better at knowing which POV a story is best told from. I also realised I enjoy telling the same story from different POVs.

All are fine. It’s your writing and you can do it whichever way you want (unless the Challenge stipulates something particular). I have seen some comments on Tumblr bemoaning those who do not use such challenges for stick to one story or one pairing. I think this is the result of a lack of understanding of why some writers do such challenges. Other readers enjoy the ‘lucky dip’ and surprise of a more random approach.

**Posting Chapters vs. Individual Works**

When I started, I was unsure if there was a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to post such works. I still am. I chose chapters because that was what AtlinMerrick did and if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me. Others doing the same challenge posted individual works. Maybe I should have done that – what do you think?

**Community**

One of the loveliest things I got from taking part in the Challenge was becoming part of a supportive, encouraging little gang of writers doing the same Challenge. If you join in one, I would encourage you to read and comment on other’s work. Some days it’s all that keeps you going. I had not expected this to happen and have had to good fortune to be introduced to some very talented writers.

**Idea Generation**

We all have stories we want to write. We all have stories we love reading. Using prompts forces you outside of that comfort zone or you would end up writing the same thing over and over. Some days, the story flows, others… not so much. The following are a few things I tried when I was stuck, especially when I got to the last ten prompts and the creative juices were drying up.

  1. Be lateral not literal with your prompt. For example, for the prompt Holding Hands, I chose to move away from the romantic idea of holding hands with someone else and instead used it to write a story about Molly holding onto a matching pair of necrotic hands and giving them to Sherlock as a gift.
  2. Reject your first two ideas and go for the third. I use this quite a lot and it helps me get past the obvious and expected.
  3. Mindmapping a word and using the results. For the prompt Animals, I had an image of kid Sherlock running at speed with his pet dog. I had no idea what else could happen. I sat down and brainstormed all the words I could think of for ‘fast’. Then I googled some more and used the results to build a story. The result, my chapter Redbeard, was one of the best received.



**What Did I Get Out of It?**

I tried out a variety of POVs, sticking strictly to canon, veering widely away from canon, first, second and third person writing. I tried pre-planning stories and free writing whatever came into my head. I learnt when a story is finished after just 300 words and when it needs more.

I wrote humour, action, world building, romantic, sexy and attempted angst. I learnt I am very bad at angst (the last chapter, The End was supposed to be angst. Read it and you will see what happened). I discovered I _love_ writing drunk and horndog, dribbling John.

There are stories I may revisit and rework. There are one or two that I deliberately used to write something for a different piece of work I am developing. There are a few I never want to read again.

A 30 Day Challenge takes you out of your own head and opens up a whole new set of ideas. There are stories I wrote that would never have occurred to me in a month of Sundays without the prompts.

Most of all, it was huge, enormous fun. Do it!


End file.
